


Time Moves Slow When Half of Your Heart Has Yet to Come Home

by Actual_Wizard_666



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Major Character Injury, i don't really know yet - Freeform, possible happy ending, we'll see, young avengers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-16 02:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12333327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Actual_Wizard_666/pseuds/Actual_Wizard_666
Summary: Somehow he knew that this was his last time he would be carried in his husband’s arms, oh how he wished it were for a happier reason, like when he was learning to fly and Teddy was always there to catch him. How he wished that Teddy wouldn’t have to go through this. But no matter how hard he wished it didn’t change the fact that his powers were exhausted.





	1. Lost

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a writing prompt for school, and somehow evolved into this. The title is from West by Sleeping at Last  
> Sorry the first chapter is short.

Pain. Excruciating pain flooded his body from a wound coming from his abdomen. His teammates watch in horror as he falls from his post hovering above the fight going on down below, waiting with baited breath for him to catch himself with his magic. Although he knew that it was hopeless to try a spell now, as the pain made it impossible to concentrate. Through the pain a familiar voice roared his name, his civilian name, in panic. Strong arms envelop him causing him to wince at the pain of his wound being jostled as he was snatched out of the air, saved from plummeting to his death. The voice from earlier was back, closer now, babbling with panic and begging him to stay awake. That voice, that familiar sound of leather wings, those strong arms. He registered finally that it was Teddy carrying him to safety and he felt a pang in his chest unrelated to his wounds.

Somehow he knew that this was his last time he would be carried in his husband’s arms, oh how he wished it were for a happier reason, like when he was learning to fly and Teddy was always there to catch him. How he wished that Teddy wouldn’t have to go through this. But no matter how hard he wished it didn’t change the fact that his powers were exhausted. They touch down and he is lowered to a rooftop somewhere, Teddy grabs his hand and tells him that help is on it’s way, gripping it like a lifeline. He cracks his eyes open through the pain and tries to smile at the man he loved since he was young. He says a goodbye as the sounds of battle and Teddy’s panicked exclamations that no, no this can’t be happening, and desperate pleas for him to stay awake fade away to soul crushing silence. But he can’t, the darkness is closing in and a numb feeling washes over him.

Teddy was always a light in his darkness. Before he met Teddy and the rest of the team, before he discovered his powers, he had always been bullied. He was Jewish on top of being gay so the bullies tended to target him more than the other kids. Until he discovered his powers of course by accidentally electrocuting and hospitalizing his main bully. He fell into self loathing after that that Teddy worked him out of throughout the years. Teddy made him feel like he belonged and made a family with him later on. He didn’t want to go. To leave them behind. But he made peace with the fact that he didn’t leave Teddy alone, for the longest time all Teddy had in the world was him but now he had Katie. So with that thought he let himself fade.

\-----------------------------------------

He stared at his hands, now their usual flesh color tinged with a crimson that could rival his beloved’s famed cape, avoiding looking at the door that held his heart inside for the thousandth time since Doctor Strange had gone in there to try and save his husband. His mind constantly came up with many different scenarios as to what may be happening to his Billy. He will never forget the panic that he felt when Billy went limp in his arms. He nearly went hulk. He would have if Tommy hadn’t sped up to where they were, defying all laws of gravity, and insisted that Teddy hand Billy over to him so he could get him to the tower asap, and that he could sense that Billy was still alive albeit barely through their shared soul. This had given him a spark of hope that his husband could possibly recover from this, that their daughter wouldn’t grow up with just one dad.


	2. Sometimes our compass breaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Empty. Vast and seemingly stretching forever to no end. It was an endless abyss of blackness. Where was he? How did he get here? Is this the afterlife? If so, he was in for a pretty boring eternity alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is a little longer, I am going to try to post a new chapter everyday.

When he had touched down at the tower the first thing he saw was Tommy doing his version of pacing, which looked like he was just standing there unless you knew where to look, then you would see that he was blurring and speeding around the room on occasion. He noticed as Teddy walked further into the room, and stopped still in front of Teddy, or about as still as He could get. “Doc said that he is trying his best, but he needs full concentration and for that reason, we aren’t allowed inside. For now all we can do is wait.”

As much as Tommy insisted that he didn’t have feelings, anybody who knew him and his twin brother also knew that he cared deeply about the wellbeing of his ‘baby brother’. Teddy gave a small smile and settled onto a chair near the door of the room Billy was in, Tommy continued to blur around the room. He had been in this spot for about two hours, but to him it seemed to be an eternity without knowing what will become of the love of his life.

Their teammates come by occasionally to check on him and ask him if he wanted them to keep watch for any sign from Doctor Strange while he went to shower or at least change out of his bloody uniform. He politely declined, he didn’t want to do much of anything until he knew that Billy would be okay. He didn’t know what he’d do if… No he didn’t want to think of that possibility. His husband is strong, he’ll somehow make it through this, and they’ll grow old together and watch Katie grow up.

Wait a minute. Katie. How could he have forgotten about their daughter? He looks up from his hands and spots Tommy a few feet away. “Where’s Katie?” his voice is rough from yelling and pleading for Billy to wake up. Tommy is at his side in a second. “Kate senior has her. She’s been wondering where her dads’ are, but other than that she doesn’t know.” Teddy smiles at his brother in law gratefully. “What would I do without you guys?” Tommy gives him a small smile “Hell if I know.” 

\------------------------------------------------

Empty. Vast and seemingly stretching forever to no end. It was an endless abyss of blackness. Where was he? How did he get here? Is this the afterlife? If so, he was in for a pretty boring eternity alone. He hoped that Teddy was alright, he had never seen his husband so distraught. Not even when he was forced to watch the woman who raised him burn in front of him. Billy remembers trying his best to save her. IwanthertohealIwanthertohealIwanthertoheal. 

He also remembers a desperate spell, an evil being hiding behind a familiar face of someone lost. An entire year on the run, parents returning from the dead, a breakup…. The feeling of the cold, unforgiving metal af a Kree blaster pressed to the underside of his chin when he felt like the only solution to the whole situation was to rid the world of himself. When Teddy had found out about that he refused to let Billy out of his sight for a week. 

But they had recovered from that. They had gotten back together, and saved the world with a kiss. Cliche as that is. Teddy had helped him through his depression yet again, and they finally got married after being engaged for so long. They continued on with superheroing and they settled into a life and routine together. After a while, they were graced with Katie. 

They were on a mission to stop some radical Skrulls and Teddy was chosen for the job being the whole “Great Unifier” and all that. Billy just tagged along. They had found an abandoned Skrull egg after the fight died down and decided to take it in. They cared for it until it hatched into their beautiful daughter.

He felt a pang as he thought of their child, he won’t be able to watch her grow into the beautiful woman she was bound to be. She was only four years old, how was Teddy going to explain this to her? Gods. How was Teddy dealing with all this? This must be so hard on him. He wished that he could be able to see him again. He wished that he wasn’t leaving his family behind. He wished that they had a second chance.

He briefly wondered if his powers could work in this endless abyss he found himself in, but it was fleeting. How stupid was he to believe that his powers would work when he’s dead. Far off in the distance of the abyss a small light appeared as if to answer his question. Like a light at the end of the tunnel. Or the famed light of the afterlife. It seemed to be ages away. Yet for some reason he found himself walking toward it anyway. After all, it’s not like he had much to do anyway.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

After what seemed like forever, Stephen Strange finally emerged from the room that had became a makeshift med room. Teddy couldn’t read the expression on his face. He stood as he prepared for the worst. “I-Is he?” The Sorcerer Supreme gave his apprentice’s husband a consoling smile. “He is stable now.” Teddy felt relief flood over him like an oncoming tide. But he didn’t let himself celebrate too soon. “I’m sensing there’s a ‘but’ coming. How bad is it?” Stephen let out a small chuckle at that, but returned to his serious expression from before. 

“He appears to be in a coma, I can’t tell when he is going to wake up.” the words ‘If he will wake up.’ were unsaid, but they were heard nonetheless. “If you wish, you may go see him.” Teddy didn’t hesitate before he rushed into the room. Only to stop dead as he took in the sight of his beloved. His skin was as pale as the white sheets, a bandage around his torso where he was hit. Other than that, he looked as if he was peacefully sleeping. Except, he was too still, too silent.

Teddy sat down near his husband’s bed and grabbed one of his hands. It was cold, so he engulfed it in both of his larger hands in an effort to warm them up, a habit that he had adopted a while ago. Billy always either had really cold hands or really warm hands so Teddy adopted the habit of grabbing them to warm them up. Billy would always smile adorably whenever he did that. He loved to make him smile any chance he had. 

He wished that that smile he loved so much would appear on Billy’s face right now. Any expression really. He wanted him to open his beautiful brown eyes. To see that sparkle that resided in them when he was talking about something he was passionate about. Even the glowing blue power that appeared when he was casting a spell.

He just wanted him to wake up.


	3. Every Mile Adds Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You better wake up baby bro, for all of our sakes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was kinda hard to work out. I'm trying to figure out this new world that Billy is in.

Tommy had managed to talk him into leaving Billy’s side to go take a shower with the brilliant point of ‘Seriously Ted, I can move at lightning speeds, if something happens I’ll literally be there in a second. Besides, Katie might want to see him. No need to scare your kid by being covered in blood.’ And so, Teddy left Tommy with his twin to go take that well needed shower. It hurt him to see his baby brother like this. No matter what Billy said ‘Really Tommy, we are the same age, I’m hardly your baby brother.’ he will always be labeled as baby brother in his head. 

As much as he said that he can’t stand Billy, he always wanted the best for him. Even though they hadn’t really known each other until their teenage years. They shared a soul for crying out loud. “You better wake up baby bro, for all of our sakes.” He knew that he wouldn’t get an answer, but he still wanted to make it clear. Everything was so still in this room, that for the speedster it felt like the world had stopped spinning. He hated it and wanted to run far away from this place, but the wellbeing of his brother outweighed his need to run away from his problems. 

“I know that I give you a lot of shit sometimes, but I need you to know that I actually care about you. You have so much more to do for the universe, so many people who’s lives you influence everyday. Katie and Teddy need you, mom can’t lose you again, I-” Damn, why is he choking up? “I need you.” He is not used to this, actually voicing his emotions. Billy was the empathetic one, the one that people would be comfortable with and would trust him with their lives. He was the aloof, flippant one, the one that you trust to just get the job done effectively. 

“Mom is going to come by sometime soon, I don’t really know when, Uncle Pietro will probably show up as well. I don’t really know if Grampneto is going to come see you, but he might.” He was hoping that their grandfather would show up, they had grown to like the ex-supervillain. He brought himself to finally sit in the chair beside Billy’s bed as opposed to shuffling on his feet rapidly as he had been doing. He stared at the too still frame of his twin watching his seemingly glacial breathing. “I know that I call you a snail and make fun of you for being so much slower than me, but I am finding right now that I prefer the snail pace to this.”

\-----------------------  
He watched the red tinted water swirl down the drain of the shower in their mandatory quarters in the tower for when they are too tired after a mission to go home. He washed his body on autopilot, his brain was more occupied on his other half who was currently in a coma a couple floors above him. He had never been so worried in his life. Not even when Billy was taken captive by the Iron in the Civil War and put into the Negative Zone. He had fought tooth and nail to find him at the time, jumping at the opportunity to go undercover at the high security base he was being held at. He did everything he could to make sure that they were reunited.

Right now he just felt at a loss. There was really nothing that he could do to ensure that this time. No rescue missions, no going undercover, they already knew where he was. He was lost in a whole new sense. There was no telling if he would return to them. He tried not to think about that outcome, but it was unavoidable. He didn’t know what he would do without him, he hoped that he wouldn’t have to find out. He didn’t know what he would say to Katie about all this. 

How could he explain to his daughter that her Papa is in a coma and might never wake up? He turned off the water and got dried and dressed in spare clothes that he had left there for instances like this. He’ll have to prepare to explain to Katie sooner rather than later, she deserved to know. He hoped that he didn’t have to explain to her why her Papa is gone in the outcome that Billy won’t wake up. She adored her Papa, often chose to adopt his appearances, his tan skin, crazy curly brunette hair, and beautiful brown eyes. He was afraid of how she’d react to all of this.

\------------------

The abyss grew into an actual landscape the closer that he got to the light, and said light still seemed so far away even though he’d been walking for a long while. Grey shapes appeared and took form of buildings, tall and imposing in the darkness. Skyscrapers stretching up into nothingness. Yet his path remained clear thus far, albeit stretching on like an endless hallway in children's cartoons. He was tired even though it was highly illogical to be so. His feet ached, and his bones were screaming in exhaustion. He saw a bus stop a few feet ahead, and his bones screamed at him once again. He made his way to it and sat down, giving his tired bones a rest.


	4. And our steady true north fades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Billy?” a familiar voice broke the never ending silence. “Tommy?” 
> 
> Sorry that this is very much late, I have had a lot on my plate. And I have been having trouble with figuring out where I want this to go.

This world that he was in was disorienting. He didn’t have any way of keeping time, just wander aimlessly for seemingly eternity. He had tried flying, but it seemed that his powers stayed behind in his body which didn’t make much sense to him. Sometimes, he would pass by silhouettes of people, but they proved to be harmless. This world somewhat resembled New York in a way, he could recognise certain aspects of the city he grew up in. Now that he thinks of it, the place he started out in looked a lot like where the fight was where he had fallen. What if it was a parallel reality that he was trapped in? Some sort of shadow realm? What if he was still alive? 

“Billy?” a familiar voice broke the never ending silence. “Tommy?” 

\---------------------------

Wanda didn’t expect to see her son in law in the hallway when she was on her way to visit her son. She expected him to be reluctant to leave his side. “How is he?” She asked him, she hoped that she wouldn’t be losing him again. Teddy seemed to have been broken from some sort of trance. “He’s stable, that’s as much as I know. Tommy made sure I got out and took care of myself, so he’s in there now.” That both surprised Wanda and didn’t at the same time. Tommy was just like Pietro is to her with Billy, he would blow up the entire universe for his twin if he had to. But Tommy tried not to show it as much.

The two made the rest of their way to Billy’s room and were treated to a precious sight. Tommy had at some point dozed off in his vigil over his brother and had his front half draped on the bed, his head near Billy’s as he slept. The constant energy that was ever present in the young speedster was reduced to a calm stillness that also seemed alert, as if he was listening for any changes in his brother’s breathing pattern. 

The two had decided to leave Tommy with his brother for a while longer. Who knows the last time he had slept?

\------------------------------

He could hear his twin brother somewhere, but he couldn’t see him anywhere. Was this place starting to get to his head? “Tommy? Is that you?” He heard a wry chuckle from his left and saw a shock of white contrasting to the shadows surrounding them. “No, it’s the Queen of England.” Billy rolled his eyes, this definitely wasn’t a trick of his environment. Nothing can quite replicate his brother’s dry humor. “What are you doing here? What did you do?” Cutting to the chase, Billy asked the question that was eating at him, had his brother done something stupid and gotten himself killed? 

“Beats me Kaplan, I was watching over you while your husband dearest took a well needed shower and a break from his constant vigil over you since Doc Strange announced that you were in a coma. I must’ve dozed off, and now I’m here. Wherever the hell ‘here’ is.” Billy was taken aback by Tommy’s signature rushed explanation, as it was a lot of information to take in. He was in a coma? Tommy must have seen the puzzled expression on his face. “Did you think we would let you leave us without putting up a fight? I got you to Doctor Strange as soon as I could and he did his best. All we need now is for you to wake up.” 

Billy could see through his brother’s dry humor and see that his injury really affected his twin. “Are you alright Tommy? How are you dealing with this?” Tommy gave a self-depreciating snort. “To be honest with you bro, I was really scared. I could feel that something was wrong with you, like- like you were fading away almost. And when-” Billy had never seen Tommy choke up before. “When Doc was working on you, there was a point where I couldn’t feel your soul anymore. I got so scared baby brother. I kept thinking. ‘I wasn’t fast enough, I couldn’t get him to Doc in time, and I’m a terrible brother who can’t do anything right.’ And then I noticed that I could feel your soul there again. I felt so relieved.” 

Billy lunged forwards and hugged his twin, tears running down both of their faces. “You did what you could, you are the fastest person I know, and you are the best big brother I could ask for. Even if we are the same age. Whatever happens, whatever the outcome of this mess is, promise me that you won’t forget that. Also, tell Tee that it wasn’t his fault either. Trust me, I know him, he is probably blaming himself too.”

Tommy laughed wetly and felt an odd sensation. Billy watched as he started to fade away. “Looks like you’re waking up.” Tommy shot him a determined and slightly fearful look. “Well shit, it looks like I am. But promise me, you will try and find your way out of here.” And with that he faded away.

\--------------------------

His eyes felt heavy, but he fought them open, seeing his brother’s sleeping face. He hoped that what just happened wasn’t just a dream. “Like I said baby brother, please wake up.” He heard a click of a camera behind him and spun around at lightning speed to see his uncle standing behind him. “I know it’s not the happiest situation, but I couldn’t resist taking a picture.” Tommy rolled his eyes, then smiled at his uncle. “Is mom here?” He couldn’t imagine how she could be taking this. “Yes, she is here as well as Rebecca and Jeff Kaplan. Stephen is talking with them right now as well as Teddy.” Tommy remembered his interaction with Billy in his dream. “Could you call them in here please? I have something to tell everyone.” Pietro gave a puzzled look, but zoomed off to do what his nephew asked.


End file.
